Let the wind blow! and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Off The Beaten Path Tips

We all know that the most common landscape scenery in the Netherlands should be the water and the windmills. Nowadays it is not quite true, windmills no longer visit you, you should visit them, in order to see at least a single one from outside.
The easiest way to see real windmills near Amsterdam is to take a trip to Zaanse Schans in Zaandam located just on the other side of the river IJ.

Here you can see six large working mills on the bank of the Zaan River. They are used for wood sawing, hulling, threshing grains, and the production of amongst other things; seed and nut oil, paint, snuff and mustard. The windmill village is rather touristy in the summer.

There are here some other sightseeings too - museums, cheese makers, wooden shoemakers, a couple of restaurants and even the house of Russian Tsar Peter the Great, but because of lack of time we came just to see a real windmill.

Admission fee €2.50 each.
Direction: Train (not the Intercity) from Amsterdam Central Station in the direction of Alkmaar/Den Helder (every quarter of an hour), get off at the 4th stop Koog Zaandijk.
From the station about 15 min. walk there, down Stationstraat, Hoogstraat, pass the chocolate factory, the little Chocolate Museum, and an old windmill, cross over the River Zaan on the N515 road bridge with spectacular views of the Zaanse Schans windmills and the old houses on the Lagedijk to your left.

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Phone: +31 75 6162862
Website: http://www.zaanseschans-museum.nl/eng/home.php

Volendam, the most recognised fishing village in the Netherlands, just second behind Amsterdam is a real tourist tempter spectacle.

It is famous not only for its traditional costumes (seen in shop-windows of the gift shops), tasty smoked eel, but also for its picturesque fisherman’s cottages and folklore, as well.
Behind the dike the Doolhof with its tiny, plan-free narrow alleys can be explored. With its sightseeings it tempts tourists, dating back to almost 1875.
Lace, Royal Delftware and wooden clogs are the most popular souvenirs sold in some of the many gift shops.

There are organized half-day or full-day excursion there from Amsterdam - these tours visit also to a cheese markt (Kaasmarkt Edam), a clogmaker shop and to a working windmill somewhere in the nearby Katwoude and the tiny fishing village Marken.

Walking on its narrow streets possibly only the shape of the houses seem to be original. The heat-insulated doors and windows, the tiled roofs are rather the accessories of the modern age. The only real things here maybe the sea, the fish market, and the trawlers in the harbour, which form a lively centre.

The Volendam VVV on Zeestraat 37 is the visitors center, where you get all the information about hotels, restaurants, attractions.

Direction by car: A10, S116, N247 Volendam

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Website: http://www.vvvvolendam.nl/

Due to an unfortunate combination of the very high tide, the low atmospheric pressure and the strong storm a big part of Southwest-Netherland got under water on 1st of February 1953. This disaster, in which many hundred people lost their life, made it necessary to close the Southwestern sea spurs as fast as possible.
The Delta Works, the biggest sluice valves of the world is a massive system of dikes, sluice gates, and storm-surge barriers that can be open and closed, to keep the sea apart from the river water flowing from the mainland and to prevent large sea waves from reaching the shores. Delta works is considered to be "the eight's world wonder".
However, many scientists think that the construction of Delta Project due to climate change and sea-level rise is in no way the final siege in the battle against the sea.

You can visit to the Haringvlietdam and the Oosterscheldam and see the seawater swirling beneath you. Near the last dam, there is an interesting place called the Delta Expo, where it is introduced, how Dutch people overcame the North Sea.
You can relive history of the flood disaster, of the building of the dams, and of the conquering of the sea areas. The nearby Water Park is a big fun for kids.
It is an experience you will never forget and highly recommended you go there.

Opening hours from April to Oct daily 10am-5.30pm; €18.50;
from Nov-March Wed-Sat 10am-5pm; €12.50
Website Water Park: http://www.neeltjejans.nl/index.php/en/home
Address: Neeltje Jans island, Burgh-Haamstede
Directions: Zeeland, about one hour and a half driving from Amsterdam on N57.

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Website: http://www.deltawerken.com/